You came to live with me & dad from the ASPCA 15 years & 10 months ago. So many kitties in the shelter. You rubbed up against the door to your cage & purred. I think you were begging to come home with us. I'd lost another dark brown sweet little girl six years before. The management & owner of the complex where we live, didn't allow pets at the time we went to look for a new little purr baby.

I had just turned 50 years old & dad had asked me what I wanted for my birthday. I told him I wanted another kitty. He looked at me & said... "You know we aren't allowed to have a pet!" I said we could ask the owner of the building where our office is. So, that is what we did & the owner said that that would be fine as long as he could come & visit & play with the kitty.

Back to the shelter, & to you. I choose you because you spoke to my heart. After we signed the adoption papers we were told that you had been dropped off because the little girl who originally had you was allergic to cats. You had never been outside & you were in good health. However, your days were up & you would have been euthanized that night. Phew, that was close.

So you came to live in the office. Now to choose a name for you. Your name had been Sheba but I wanted something else. I said to dad, "since this is a law office, she must have a legal name." He came up with your name. We just called you Res. We had to explain your name many times because people always looked at us strange when we told them what your name was.

I worked in the office seven days a week for the first couple years we had you. So you were only alone at night & loved to sleep in the bathroom sink. There was a large window in front of my desk & we bought a padded shelf for you it relax on & look out the window. I hung a hummingbird feeder outside of that window & the hummingbird seemed to love teasing you.

I used to throw small soft rubber balls against the door for you. You loved to leap in the air & catch them. I remember those days so fondly. Dad would ball up a piece of paper & throw it across the room or down the hall. You'd run & chase it & flip over on your back & roll it between you paws. Such fun to watch & a wonderful break from the tediousness of the work.

The day came when the office had to close & we decided to test the rules of our complex. All was fine for over a year. The lady manager even came to see you & all appeared to be okay. Then another resident decided to get a puppy. Well, that is the start of a battle. We were told we would have to get rid of you. No way that was going to happen. Several other residents also wanted to get a fur or purr baby. So dad filed an arbitration hearing & we won. Yeah!!!!!!! You were here to stay. A couple years later the state passed a law where elderly residents could not be restricted from having a small pet.

In any event, you never caused a single problem for any neighbor as you were always a house kitty. Your little paws never touched mother earth. That is until we had to say goodbye for a while last Saturday, June 27, 2009. The night before you were having a hard time walking. Didn't seem to be able to eat or even drink water. You never made an indication that you were in pain but we could tell you were beginning to shut down. So while the tears flowed, we gave you gentle strokes, soft kisses & whispered into your sweet little ears through the night. And with heavy hearts we took you to the Vet.

I held you to my heart, kissed your little head, whispered into you tiny ear that we loved you so much & we didn't want you to have to struggle. I told you that it was okay for you to close your eyes & be at peace. As you faded away I looked into your eyes & watched the sparkle dim in those golden eyes. Dad stroked you gently & then it was done.

Our hearts are pained & we miss you so much. However, we will come to terms with our pain & we feel we made the only decision that could be made. You needed to be gently sent to the meadow by the Rainbow Bridge. We so hope that the crossing was as easy as it seemed to be to us. We hope you are not missing us like we miss you & that someday, we will be able to give you cuddles, soft kisses & whisper in you tiny ear again, Res, Sweet Little Lady, we love you so much.

We will have your ashes back with us in a couple weeks & I have decided that it is time for your earthly remains to finally be placed within mother earth. I have a special place in my favorite padio where you will be gently placed & I can talk to you every day. I hope you will be happy there with the sunshine warming your spot & the birds once again teasing your spirit. You are loved so deeply & my eyes are once again wet with the thought of not being able to stroke you one more time. In my heart & mind, I will be stroking you every day for as long as I live. I will be sending loving whispers to the meadow & hope you will hear them. I will be blowing kisses to you & hope that every now & then, I catch a shadow out of the corner of my eye & know that your spirit is spending a little time with me.

So, until we meet at the Rainbow Bridge, have fun playing with all your new friends & meet us when we come, our Sweet Little Lady.

Our deepest love, Mom & Dad

Well, Sweet Little Lady, it has been 9 days since you left for the meadow by the rainbow bridge & a day hasn't passed that I didn't shed tears. I miss you my sweet little girl. Your soft meows, that look in your eyes & the quiet purrs. I know it will get easier but it is so hard to know that I can't give you your gentle morning cuddles. See the excitement when I bring you your breakfast. I even miss cleaning your box. Dad piled all the rugs, towels, cleaning & grooming items together & told me to sort through them & decide what to keep & what to take to the shelter. I have to do it in stages because everything I touch reminds me of you & I cry. My sweet baby girl, I don't know how long it will take before I can see thing you slept on, ate off of, played with & not shed some tears. My heart is so full of longing for you. If you can, please send me some purrs, a shadow out of the corner of my eye. Something, anything that will tell me you are still with me in spirit. Help me to accept that you are only gone from me in the physical sense. I send you kisses, loving words & hugs every day & night. I so hope you know that we had to let you go, not because you were a burden, not because you got old. We are old & we didn't want you to suffer. Sweet Little Lady, I will always miss you & love you. Please be happy & wait for us by the bridge.Mom

7/8/09My Sweet Little Lady, cuddles, kisses & gentle strokes being sent to you. Tears still come & I guess they will for a long time. I signed an application for the adoption of a 4 year old girl kitty. Waiting to hear & hope we will be able to bring her home. I wanted a older kitty to honor you. Another kitty looking for a forever home. This girl was brought to the same shelter where we got you. Her human mom passed away & she is lonely for her. I am hoping we will be able to fill her aching heart & that she will help to fill ours. Don't think for a moment that she will take your place. That spot in my heart will always & forever belong to you. Your brothers, Trouble & Runt are now allowed into your bedroom where only you were allowed for the last five years. You would never accept them & were happy to be by yourself. The room was so lonely with you gone. I still see your sweet little face & long to hold you one more time. Please whisper in Gods ear. Ask him to allow us to share our life & home with this other girl. So, until next time & hopefully with good news, have fun in the meadow, catch a butterfly on your ear & send it to me so I can feel you touching me. Say hi to Foxy, Tipsie & Sooty for us & tell them that we still love & miss them too. Have fun playing. Sweet Little Lady Res, mom & dad love you & miss you bunches.

7/15/09Sending you gentle hugs, head kisses & loving whispers my Sweet Little Lady. You are back with us because dad picked up your ashes yesterday. I cried a lot but am glad you are here again. I will always miss you & love you for the rest of my life & pray we will be together some day. We brought home another little girl from the shelter. She is very gentle & sweet & I can't help but believe that you played a part in our choice. The lady we were going to get had health issues that I was afraid might affect the brothers so we chose Shannon instead. She is very sweet & has accepted Trouble as he has her. Runt will still take a little time but he is beginning to come around. I hope you are helping there too. I know you never wanted to be bothered by the boys but Shannon is only two years old & so timid & frightened. I believe she must have been hit a lot because every time I reach down to pet her, she ducks. She was left in the overnight drop box at the shelter back in February. She was pregnant at the time. Her kittens were aborted (sob) & then later when she was healed, she was spayed. Poor little thing has seen some trauma in her live. One of the reasons why I believe you brought her to us. You know we will always be kind to her & love her. So I will say thank you for helping us find another kitty to love. My dear friend Buddy will be painting a rock for me with your name on top of a paw print with a heart around it. I will place it over your spot in the patio where you will be placed. I wanted you to have your spot outside where the sun shines & the birds fly around & sing. I know you would like that. It is a pretty place with lots of plants & flowers & under a canopy to keep you sheltered when it rains. I hope you have made a lot of nice friends & are happy. Send me shadows now & then so I can know you are visiting me. Please. I miss you so very much. Sweet Little Lady Res, always in my heart & mind & never very far away either. Cuddles baby!

9/18/09Sweet Little Lady Res, sorry I haven't visited in a while. It's not because I don't think of you everyday. And I miss you every day. Tears stull flow for you. Every night & morning I send you cuddles & kisses. Every night I go to out to the patio & look for your star. I send a hug & a kiss to you. Your little memory stone is now in the patio next to my other precious babies who have left the physical world. I hope you are all together in the meadow & are having a wonderful time.

Runt recently had a problem with pancreatitis & has been treated with medication. Doctor said it was mild & he should be fine now. The new little girl, Shannon has settled in & they all get along. They all sleep on the bed that only you used to sleep on. I so wish you could have played with the boys but I never wanted to upset you & they always upset you. I wish with all my heart that I could hold you close to my chest again & kiss that sweet little head just one more time. Big sigh. In my mind & heart I still do & always will. I'm still looking for a shadow or some other sign that you are visiting me. I so hope you will soon.

So, sweet Little Lady, have fun & wait for me. I love you so much.

The months have gone by so quickly & even though I haven't written here in a very long time, you are missed as always.

I had to write today because Mr. Trouble left for the meadow this morning. I hope you will be able to play together there even though you didn't while here. My dear friend Buddy has offered to paint another stone for Trouble & it will be added to the spot I have as a memorial to all you dear furkids that are now in the meadow. Give Trouble a welcoming head bump. I miss all of you so very much.

Adding Trouble's photo down below.

The day I dreaded when we had to let you go. Our hearts broke. Mr. Runt; my fuzzy ears; Little Man; Sir Runtalear, I miss you each & every day. I know you & Trouble are cuddled together once more & that makes me smile. Someday we will all be together again & the crack in y heart will be healed.Until then, Love You Forever my Little Man!

It will not be long & you all will have Daddy Bill joining you. I hope you all will greet him when he arrives. Please keep him company & make him laugh. He has had a rough year & end stage cancer will claim him before long. I miss you all so much & Dad will tell you just how much.